Trump Backs Local Approval, Payments for Data Centres

Trump backs local approval for data centres

Washington, Oct 25

Speaking to WANF-TV's Atlanta News First before a rally in Perry, Georgia, on Saturday, Trump rejected the suggestion that he differed with Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Jackson over whether local communities should approve such projects.

"I agree with that. No, I agree with that. And I think locals should be paid a lot of money for data centers," Trump told interviewer Abby Kousouris.

His response endorsed a local role in decisions on data centres, but he did not outline an approval process or announce a federal measure to establish one. He also did not explain how payments to communities would be calculated or distributed.

Kousouris raised the issue by saying Jackson believed local residents should be able to approve data centres. Trump responded by arguing that financial benefits could change how communities viewed the facilities.

"When a data center goes in, I've seen it. People are very unhappy. All of a sudden, a data center decides to pay a community, uh, in the form of taxes, in a form of whatever. And all of a sudden, the same people love what they're doing," he said.

He coupled his support for local benefits with an argument for continued construction, citing competition with China. Trump said China was building data centres rapidly and asserted that the United States was ahead, without offering a measure for that comparison.

"But the data centers, they have money. They can pay local communities a lot," he said.

Asked whether he and Jackson had discussed particular regulations, or differed over them, Trump did not identify a specific proposal. Instead, he returned to the possibility of payments resembling a tax or dividend.

He predicted that such benefits would make residents more receptive to data centres. He did not specify whether money would go to local governments, individual households or both, and gave no timetable for introducing a payment arrangement.

Trump also said the facilities would provide their own electricity and supply power to the grid. He did not name any projects or provide details of their generating capacity during the interview.

"So the data centers are gonna be fine, but let the people benefit from the data centers," he said.

His remarks expressed support for community consent and compensation without setting out new regulatory requirements.

The White House's March 4 Ratepayer Protection Pledge called on participating technology companies to cover the additional electricity supply and infrastructure required by their data centres. It also included commitments to local hiring, workforce training and coordination with grid operators. Those commitments concern company practices and do not themselves demonstrate that household electricity costs have fallen.

Data centres support services including cloud computing and artificial intelligence. Their servers require dependable electricity and cooling to operate continuously. The US Department of Energy identifies both power supply and the removal of heat from computing equipment as central requirements of these facilities.

— IANS